Silent Echoes: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Buster Keaton (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Buster Keaton ranks as one of the foremost clown princes of Hollywood. As a child, Keaton learned his craft as one of vaudeville's Three Keatons, where he was the target of knockabout comedy so rough many observers considered it a form of child abuse. Sadly, personal problems, alcoholism, and a lack of business acumen caused Buster to lose artistic control over the making of his films in later years, and he was reduced to taking bit roles in "Beach Party" films. Knopf (theater, Univ. of Michigan) offers a timely, academic appreciation of the great stoneface, examining why Keaton's films intrigued surrealists and intellectuals such as Salvador Dal!, Federico Garc!a Lorca, and Luis Bu?uel. (One of Keaton's final appearances was in a short film scripted by Samuel Beckett.) Knopf also does an excellent job of tracing the vaudevillian roots of Keaton's stunts and gags. On the other hand, Bengtson's Silent Echoes shows more than 100 sites from early Keaton films, comparing the film view with the scene as it exists today. (Unlike other silent film figures, Keaton preferred natural settings for his pratfalls. As a result, his early films offer a wonderful view of early Hollywood landmarks that are, like some of Keaton's films, now lost to posterity.) This dedicated bit of detective work will be of great interest to Hollywood and urban historians. Although the definitive history of Keaton's life and career has yet to be written, both books will nicely supplement the collections of libraries that already own earlier studies, like Keaton's Wonderful World of Slapstick, Marion Meade's Buster Keaton: Cut to the Chase or Tom Dardis's Keaton: The Man Who Wouldn't Lie DownAnot to mention Kino on Video's ten-volume The Art of Buster Keaton. Recommended for all academic and large public libraries and specialized film collections.AStephen Rees, Levittown Regional Lib., PA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Any student of early filmmaking in Los Angeles--not to mention Keaton fans--will find this elegant volume to be indespensable." -- American Cinematographer Magazine

"Astonishing is a mild word for what John Bengtson has accomplished . . . this book is something like a miracle." -- Kenneth Turan, film critic, Los Angeles Times

"In Silent Echoes, author John Bengtson performs a great deal of detective work to uncover the areas of Los Angeles (carefully scouted by Keaton himself), which served as the famed settings featured in many of the comic's classic films. [P]ainstakingly researched...enabling current generations to relate to these films of a bygone era. Keaton scholars and fans in general will enjoy seeing the portrait of a city so close to their idol's heart." -- Francesca Dingasan, BOXOFFICE, November, 1999.

"The book is meticulous. It's ingenious. It's inexhaustibly fascinating." -- Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

"This is a cinematic and photographic detective story of the first order." -- Ken Burns, author/director, The Civil War, Baseball, etc.

"What John Bengtson has done is nothing short of remarkable: a deft combination of detective work, archeology, and film buffery. I can't get enough of it!" -- Leonard Maltin, film critic and historian

"With its blend of film history... and research, the book is like no other; may there be more like it." -- Ace Magazine

Reviews for Silent Echoes

Mindboggling!Leonard Maltin; Astonishing is a mild word for what John Bengtson has accomplished through a deft combination of instinct, observation and hard work. For any silent film fan whos ever wondered exactly where their favorite Keaton gags were shot, this book is something like a miracle. Kenneth Turan, film critic, Los Angeles Times; Thanks to his sixth sense, his detectives nose and historians tenacity, we can discover scores of locations which we had assumed had been flattened. He gives an entirely new level of interest to the city. I envy John Bengtsons achievement as much as I admire it. Despite all the resources of Thames Television, and eager researchers, we did not find out nearly as much as Bengtson did on his own. I suspect he may have created a new art form. Certainly its a godsend for film enthusiasts. Let us hope more of his location surveys appear in the future. Kevin Brownlow, Emmy Award-winning Producer/Director/Film Historian; Bengtsons zealous and patient research into the places where Keaton shot his dazzling silent comedies has a double fascinationa fresh look at the matchless Keaton at work, and a nostalgic glimpse of a simpler, gentler Los Angeles that has all but vanished in every sense. Charles Champlin, author of Hollywoods Revolutionary Decade, retired critic-at-large, Los Angeles Times; Mr. Bengtson must be some sort of filmic angel!Richard Lewis, Actor/Writer/Comedian -- From the Publisher

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Product Details

• Paperback: 231 pages
• Publisher: Santa Monica Press (December 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 189166106X
• ISBN-13: 978-1891661068
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #729,406 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Film Book of the Year!, December 1, 1999

By	Jan Willis "forgetitjake" (Tupelo, MS) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Book of the Year!

This has been an exceptionally good year for books on Silent Films! New titles by Basinger, Brownlow, Drew, and Riley (below) - yet Bengston's SILENT ECHOES is ... clearly the Film Book of the Year! Whether you are a longtime fan of Buster Keaton & the Silent Film era or a newcomer, you will want your own personal copy of SILENT ECHOES. Frankly, I'd recommend two: one to wear out from the heavy use you'll give it when you watch the Keaton films discussed in the book, and a second one to put on your bookshelves for safe keeping. You can read about the book's scope & coverage, above. Here, just let me tell you what the book can do for you, personally, as a film lover. It does, in book form, what film critic Richard T. Jameson wrote that only the best films can do: After experiencing it, you see life ... a little differently. Think about the power of a film - or a book - to change your life a little bit. THIS one will! After reading this book, you'll see Keaton's films - and other films of this era - in a different way, too. You will never see Keaton's work in the same light again - you 'll not only enjoy the films even more, you will also notice the world that was being documented in these films, and rejoice that so many of the landscapes that Keaton filmed still exist, today! You'll begin to watch other films of this era with that new perspective, and you may be inspired to create a similar book of your own!

Other new titles also recommended: Jeanine Basinger's SILENT STARS Kevin Brownlow's MARY PICKFORD REDISCOVERED Willam M. Drew's AT THE CENTER OF THE FRAME: LEADING LADIES OF THE TWENTIES & THIRTIES Philip J. Riley's THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Masterful Blend of Urban Archeology and Film Scholarship, February 22, 2000

By	Edward Dunn (Silicon Valley in California) - See all my reviews

About 25 years ago, the now-demolished Playboy Theater in Chicago ran a landmark Buster Keaton revival featuring newly struck prints, correct projection speed, and musical accompaniment to Buster Keaton's features and shorts. It was a revelation and the first time that I truly understood what was lost when silent comedy faded into, as Norma Desmond might say, Talk! Talk! and More Talk! Moreover, it was the first time it became clear to me the degree of modernity and surrealism in Keaton's work--particularly in contrast to Chaplin's Victorian emotionalism. In short, I fell in love with Buster and his work. Now, "Silent Echoes" comes along to lovingly excavate the faded world of Buster Keaton's Los Angeles. The book is infused with John Bengston's love of Keaton, encyclopedic knowledge of his work and relentless ingenuity as a urban archeologist. Even better, it inspired me to rent the Keaton ouvre on laserdisc and video in order to revisit the locations of his shots and the depth of his humor and humanity. "Silent Echoes" is a labor of love that's a treat for film lovers.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In A Class By Its Own, January 24, 2000

By	Cheated (California USA) - See all my reviews

John Bengston analyzes the Keaton studio and points out in minute detail the locations that show up in his films (1920-28), with the help of fire insurance maps, aerial photos, archived photos from public institutions, old postcards, itinerant things he's dug up, etc. Judging by the contents of "Silent Echoes", Keaton preferred to film in the real world, as opposed to the inside of a soundstage, and because of this, Bengston has provided us some great then-and-now photos that illustrate just how much L.A. (and other locations) have changed in the last 75+/- years (which turns out to be pretty depressing).

One of the things I found fun about "Silent Echoes" was making my own discoveries of things that would not have been pointed out by the author. I got kind of a kick out of seeing a rock formation from the film "Three Ages" that looked exactly like Wallace Beery's face, Keaton's co-star in the film. Another thing is, Bengston makes it easy for the reader to analyze the comparisons he's trying to get across. I never had a problem understanding the content, which made it more enjoyable to read.

I enjoyed "Silent Echoes" so thoroughly that I found myself occasionally spending as much as a half hour studying a single page! This amazing, sometimes eerie, book is a must for all Keaton fans (especially those in the L.A. area, who can run around town and stand in the actual filmed spots), but you don't have to be one to enjoy it. However, it will help if you've seen the films showcased in this book.